A touch sensor detects the presence and position of a touch or the proximity of an object (such as a user's finger or a stylus) within a touch-sensitive area of a touch sensor array overlaid on a display screen, for example. A touch sensor may be attached to or provided as part of a number of different devices, such as, for example, a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, satellite navigation device, portable media player, portable game console, kiosk computer, point-of-sale device. To further illustrate, one example provides that a control panel of a household or other appliance includes a touch sensor.
There are a number of different types of touch sensors, such as (for example) resistive touch screens, surface acoustic wave touch screens, and capacitive touch screens. When an object touches the surface of touch sensor array, a change in capacitance occurs within the touch screen at the position of the touch or proximity. A touch sensor controller processes the change in capacitance to determine its position on the touch screen.